Smith off in stalemate

Alan Smith was sent off as Man Utd were held 0-0 by Man City at Old Trafford.

Manchester City survived a 90-minute battering to claim a creditable 0-0 draw at Old Trafford as Alan Smith was sent off for the first time in his Manchester United career.

Smith was dismissed in the closing minutes of a pulsating derby as The Red Devils could not find a way through a stubborn City defence, for whom Richard Dunne excelled.

City endured a torrid opening five minutes when, on another day, they could have been adjudged to have conceded two penalties.

Firstly, Sylvain Distin appeared to pull the arm of compatriot Mikael Silvestre before another French clash resulted in Antoine Sibierski manhandling Louis Saha. Fortunately for City, referee Graham Poll was non-plussed.

In between the penalty appeals, City were also indebted to a magnificent goal-line clearance from rookie full back Stephen Jordan.

Paul Scholes split the visiting defence asunder with a superb pass, Saha steered the ball towards goal but Jordan was on hand to scoop clear with United ready to celebrate after just four minutes.

Danny Mills then had to produce a desperate clearance from Cristiano Ronaldo's chip while Gabriel Heinze tried his luck from distance as City hung on for the bulk of the first half.

Richard Dunne and Saha had a spot of argy-bargy while Roy Keane and Jordan were both cautioned for late tackles as City struggled to retain possession.

But for all United's dominance, they rarely called David James into action with the England keeper only troubled by Ronaldo's swerving drive which was beaten away.

Sir Alex Ferguson opted for more attacking potency in the second half by bringing on Ryan Giggs for Liam Miller and the Welshman twice looked to free Saha but Distin snuffed out the danger on each occasion.

The Red Devils looked to turn the screw with the City defence caught napping at a corner as Keane stole in at the near post but his attempt was blocked by Paul Bosvelt.

James dished up a characteristic error just before the hour mark as he fumbled the ball as Scholes sniffed an end to his barren run in front of goal and the City keeper was lucky that Alan Smith's follow-up was straight at him.

City were again thankful for frantic defending on 63 minutes when the previously ineffective Steve McManaman came to his side's rescue. A Giggs corner was knocked back into the mixer, Smith produced a thumping overhead kick but McManaman instinctively stuck out a foot to somehow keep the scores level.

United created their clearest chance on 69 minutes when the ever-dangerous Saha slipped a delightful reverse pass through to Giggs to send the winger clear but the substitute's shot brushed the side-netting when he should have curled his team in front.

The visitors had been non-existent as an attacking force but could have snatched an unlikely winner in the closing minutes following a breakaway, with Shaun Wright-Phillips laying the ball back for McManaman but he wastefully lashed his shot over the bar.

Smith was sent off in the final two minutes after rightly being cautioned for the second time for a lunging challenge on Dunne, having been booked earlier in the half.

The hosts created one last chance in injury time but Saha glanced his header agonisingly wide of the upright from Giggs' cross from the right as Ferguson, celebrating 18 years at the helm, was again left to rue a string of missed opportunities which is slowly becoming the tale of his team's season.

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Man United	Team Statistics	Man City
0	Goals	0
0	1st Half Goals	0
4	Shots on Target	0
8	Shots off Target	2
5	Blocked Shots	2
16	Corners	1
10	Fouls	10
7	Offsides	4
1	Yellow Cards	2
1	Red Cards	0
78.7	Passing Success	66.7
45	Tackles	40
42.2	Tackles Success	55
67.3	Possession	32.7
59.6	Territorial Advantage	40.4